Welcome to another publication of our Fortnight Aviation News (FAN) column, where we bring you a summary of the past two weeks' aviation news.
Let us take a look at the happenings in the past two weeks.
By: Haotian
Published On: 19 November 2023, 9.00pm (GMT +8)
Boeing 787 takes flight to Antarctica from Cape Town
A Norse Boeing 787. Photo: Norse Atlantic Airways (www.flynorse.com)
A chartered Boeing 787-9 originating from Cape Town successfully landed in the continent of Antarctica. This marks the first ever Boeing 787 to ever touch down in Antarctica. The flight was operated by Norse Atlantic Airways, a Norwegian low-cost carrier. The flight was bound for Troll Airfield (QAT) near the Troll Research Station, and the plane was carrying supplies, as well as research scientists.
The flight, N0787, touched down at Troll Airfield at 0201 hours (GMT +12) on Thursday (November 16 2023), which carried scientists from the Norwegian Polar Institute, as well as supplies which were required.
The aircraft, registered LN-FNC, is a Norse Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The aircraft is five years old and, prior to joining Norse Atlantic Airways in June 2022, it operated under Norwegian UK Airlines, a Norwegian subsidiary, before it was grounded in March of 2020.
Aircrafts have actually landed in the continent before - One example would be the IcelandAir Boeing 767-300ER, which was also operated to Troll Airfield in 2021.
An IcelandAir Boeing 767-300ER at Troll Airfield. Photo: IcelandAir (www.icelandair.com)
This is a significant milestone for Norse, as it now holds the title of the operator of the first Boeing 787 ever in Antarctica.
Qantas reveals its First A220 livery
The first Qantas A220 features an Aboriginal-inspired livery. Photo: Qantas (www.qantas.com)
On Wednesday (15 November 2023), Qantas has unveiled its brand new livery on their first A220. The aircraft is set to join QantasLink, a subsidiary of Qantas focusing on regional flights, in 2024.
The livery can be found on the brand-new A220-300, registered VH-X4A. The aircraft was pictured to be in Canada, where an Airbus facility is located, before it embarks on a ferry flight to Australia. A Pitjantjatjara artist known as Maringka Baker was the designer of this livery, the Aboriginal livery. The painting of the aircraft took painters about 2 weeks to complete.
Vanessa Hudson, the CEO of Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (Qantas), said:
"These aircraft have the potential to change the way our customers travel across the country, with the ability to connect any two cities or towns in Australia. That means faster and more convenient travel for business trips and exciting new possibilities for holiday travel. A whole new fleet type also means a lot of opportunities for our people to operate and look after these aircraft."
The aircraft is slated to operate from February 2024, connecting the capital city of Canberra with Melbourne.
The QantasLink A220-300 is set to replace the existing Boeing 717-200s that are currently in operation with QantasLink, as the aircrafts are of an old age. This new aircraft is able to carry a maximum of 137 passengers - 10 in Business Class, and 127 in Economy Class. Do expect the number of A220s in operation with QantasLink to rise over the years, as it focuses more on its regional network. In addition to the A220-300, Qantas is also looking forward to the delivery of its A350-1000, which would allow nonstop flights between Sydney and London, and this flight is dubbed the "Project Sunrise" - as passengers get to experience 2 sunrises within the 20 hours of flight. The Qantas A350-1000 is slated to be delivered in 2025.
B-21 Bomber completes its inaugural flight
The B-21 flew for the first time last Friday. Photo: Northrop Grumman (www.northropgrumman.com)
The B-21 "Raider" Bomber, designed by Northrop Grumman, embarked on its maiden flight last Friday (10 November 2023), after nearly 8 years in development.
The B-21 left Northrop Grumman's facility in Palmdale, California, at about 6.51am (GMT -8) on Friday. The B-21 Bomber resembles the shape of its predecessor, the B-2 Bomber, with its W-Shaped design, and its relatively flat body.
A United States Air Force representative spoke about the B-2:
"The B-21 Raider is in flight testing. Flight testing is a critical step in the test campaign managed by the Air Force Test Center and 412th Test Wings B-21 Combined Test Force."
The B-21 was first revealed to the public in late 2022, but did not take off to the skies until late 2023. Northrop has confirmed that 6 test aircrafts are currently being built, and the first would enter service as soon as 2027.
The United States Air Force plans to purchase a hundred of this aircraft to replace the ageing B-1 and B-2 Bombers.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore has type-certified the Embraer E2
Scoot will operate their Embraer E2s in early 2024. Photo: Embraer (www.embraer.com)
Embraer has received the type-certification for their Embraer E190-E2 and Embraer 195-E2 aircrafts on Friday (17 November 2023) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, ahead of the planned operations of the E2 jets by Scoot, the low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, in early 2024.
Before the CAAS certified the E2 jets, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in Europe, as well as the Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) in Brazil, have all type-certified the Embraer E190-E2 and the Embraer E195-E2. The aircraft's compliance with international aviation standards is further boosted by the type-certification by the CAAS. The Vice-President and Head of Embraer Commercial Aviation in Asia Pacific, Raul Villaron, commented:
“We welcome the type certification of the E190-E2 and E195-E2 and thank CAAS for their thorough assessment. This is yet another milestone achieved as we work towards Embraer’s modern, fuel-efficient E190-E2 taking the skies in Scoot’s livery in 2024."
Embraer is also set to operate a full-motion E2 simulator in the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Training Centre in Singapore where the Singapore-CAE Flight Training Centre is located.
Malaysia Airlines' first Boeing 737 MAX has been delivered
Malaysia Airlines received their first Boeing 737 MAX. Photo: Malaysia Airlines (www.malaysiaairlines.com)
On the 14th of November 2023, the first Boeing 737 MAX 8 for Malaysia Airlines departed Seattle for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The aircraft was first unveiled by Malaysia Airlines earlier this year, and was finally delivered in November 2023. The aircraft, registered 9M-MVA, departed from Seattle (BFI) for Kuala Lumpur (KUL) with a stopover in Honolulu (HNL) and Guam (GUM), for refuelling. The aircraft landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 10.28am (GMT +8), according to flight tracking website Flightradar24. This is the first of 25 Boeing 737 MAX 8s Malaysia Airlines has ordered.
The aircraft was supposed to be delivered in August 2023, but due to a manufacturing defect, the date was postponed.
The interior of the new aircraft is similar to that of the existing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800, with a new and refreshed look, as well as inflight connectivity. There will also be inflight-entertainment system on the plane.
Malaysia Airlines' refreshed cabin. Photo: SoyaCincau (www.soyacincau.com)
The remaining 24 aircrafts are slated to be delivered starting next year. As Malaysia primarily relies on travel by air to get between cities, this is certainly a big milestone for the Malaysian aviation community.
This concludes our Fortnight Aviation News for these 2 weeks. Look forward to a new release of this every alternate Sunday!
i cant wait for scoot to oprate their embraers